Theerathon Bunmathan scored the only goal of the meeting as the War Elephants successfully defended their championship title with an aggregate 3-2 victory over Park Hang-seo’s troops.

Vietnam's midfielder Vu Van Thanh in action during the match.

Vietnam headed into the match with strong determination, knowing that they would need to win or achieve a 3-3 draw in order to lift the trophy after the two teams had tied 2-2 in the first leg.

However, the Golden Star Warriors faced tough challenge in the first half as Thailand made good use of their home-field advantage to overwhelm the away side.

Alexandre Polking’s troops produced several threats before taking the lead in the 25th minute thanks to Theerathon Bunmathan who fired an unstoppable powerful long-range at the bottom left corner.

The remainder of the first half saw Thailand dominate ball possession, while Vietnam squandered a number of opportunities to equalise the score.

After the break, Park Hang-seo’s side strengthened their attacks seeking to turn the situation around.

Vietnam almost restored parity in the 58th minute with Hoang Duc’s long-range strike going closely wide. The Golden Star Warriors missed again 13 minutes later as Tuan Hai placed a shot over the crossbar.

With time running out, Vietnam made concerted efforts but their attacks were not efficient enough to be successfully converted.

The 1-0 score remained unchanged until the final whistle, which meant the Thais took the overall trophy with an aggregate 3-2 win.

Tien Linh scores a brace to send Vietnam into AFF Cup final

Forward Nguyen Tien Linh scored a double as Vietnam trounced Indonesia 2-0 in the return leg of the 2022 AFF Cup semifinals at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on the evening of January 9 to book their place in the title decider.

AFF Cup comparison: Vietnam vs Indonesia

After an underwhelming first leg, Vietnam need much to improve if they want to beat Indonesia in the second leg of the semifinals on Monday.

AFF Cup 2022: Vietnam, Indonesia play to goalless draw

Vietnam were held to a goalless draw against Indonesia in a tight match in the first leg of AFF Cup 2022’s semi-finals in Senayan city, Indonesia on January 6.

2022 AFF Cup: Semifinals and finals fixtures

Vietnam face Indonesia while Thailand go against Malaysia in the semifinals of the 2022 AFF Cup.

Ethnic affairs committee launches 2023 tasks

The Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs held a teleconference on January 4 to review its 2022 activities and launch tasks set for 2023.

Source: NDO